1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to football practice equipment, and more particularly, to the connecting of multiple tackling sleds together to form variable unit blocking sleds for use in teaching and practicing blocking and tackling techniques.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is important in the training of football players to provide opportunities for the players to practice their blocking techniques. These blocking techniques are traditionally taught using both tackling sleds with one dummy and blocking sleds with multiple dummies. This allows the players to learn the skills necessary to block and tackle safely and efficiently and those skills needed for the combined activity of players.
Because of the contact nature of football, professional teams and schools with football programs must purchase a wide variety of training and safety equipment. Purchasing a number of one-man tackling sleds and a variety of blocking sleds with different numbers of dummies can be prohibitively expensive (especially for smaller school districts), difficult to store, and inefficient to use. However, without training in these various contexts, a player may be unequipped to meet the challenges on the playing field and become injured.
Blocking sleds have been used for many years. Prior art teaches blocking sleds with multiple dummies. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,216,724 to Williams and U.S. Pat. No. 2,237,600 to Gilman. Blocking sleds that include platforms upon which a person stands to add resistance are also taught by the prior art. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,523 to Forrest and U.S. Pat. No. 2,237,600 to Gilman. There are sleds that include dummies that display movement and resistance in a variety of planes and angles. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,523 to Forrest; U.S. Pat. No. 2,934,343 to Schumacher; U.S. Pat. No. 3,514,105 to Pillard; U.S. Pat. No. 3,329,428 to Moran; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,216,724 to Williams. The prior art even discloses sleds upon which multiple dummies can be mounted as needed. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,410 to Gilman; U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,523 to Forrest; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,934,343 to Schumacher. However, many of the sleds that allow dummies to be added are not very versatile for training purposes and often employ cumbersome and time consuming processes to combine the dummies on a sled such that changing their configuration during practice is not a practical option. In addition, some of these sleds contemplate placement of structural elements for combining or extending the sled in such position or of such permanent dimensions as to present potential danger to the players. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,410 to Gilman teaches use of a constant length crossbar upon which multiple dummies can be mounted and slid into a variety of positions. However, if only one or two dummies are used, a portion of the frame upon which the dummies are mounted will be empty and hazardous to players running nearby.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide affordable, one-man tackling sleds which can be releasably and safely connected together, without tools or requiring unreasonable amounts of time, to form variable unit blocking sleds.
It is another object of the present invention to provide tackling sleds with multiple dummies which can be releasably and safely connected together, without tools, to form variable unit blocking sleds.
It is another object of the present invention to provide variable unit blocking sleds that allow line-splits to be tailored according to needs of the practice drill.
It is yet another object of the present invention to allow this versatility without compromising the safety of the players.